On the Job: Young workers leave U.S. for internships

By Anita Bruzzese, Gannett

For many young people, the economic downturn has been especially difficult because they're often competing with seasoned professionals for jobs once reserved for the inexperienced.

Esteban Felix, AP

Celebrations in Managua, Nicaragua, the first 10 days of August honor the city's patron saint, Santo Domingo de Guzman. Corrie Burdett took an internship in the country to gain international experience.

Celebrations in Managua, Nicaragua, the first 10 days of August honor the city's patron saint, Santo Domingo de Guzman. Corrie Burdett took an internship in the country to gain international experience.

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Adding to the dilemma, employers also often profess a preference for those who have international experience.

That's why University of Oregon graduate Corrie Burdett decided to take an internship with the Foundation for Sustainable Development (FSD), working in Nicaragua to gain valuable work experience and international knowledge.

Recently, back in America, Burdett said to members of Congress about continuing support for foreign programs, "if you had told me four months ago I'd be doing that, I would have said, 'Yeah, right.'"

Burdett said it "definitely entered my mind that this experience would help me in my career" when she signed up for the internship, but said she has been surprised by the amount of experience she's achieved working on a domestic violence project, in addition to making a number of valuable contacts.

"I've really immersed myself in the work and the community, and I've learned to communicate better with people," she said. "I think this experience is absolutely going to make a difference on my resume."

Unlike some internships, where a company will pay the intern for work, in this case the interns pay FSD for the experience. Burdett said it cost her about $7,000 for the internship, which runs about 6 ½ months.

FSD executive director Mireille Cronin Mather said interns pay on average about $4,500 to participate in internships that can range from weeks to months. Currently, there are 228 interns working in six countries, including Uganda and Argentina. They tackle a variety of community projects, such as microfinancing, she said.

The key to the FSD experience, Mather said, is intensive training and immersion in the local culture to best enable interns to help with critical community projects. There currently are more than 300 community partners with FSD.

"We're in these communities to support the people who live there, and the other part is to give them a different perspective and help to educate them," Mather said. "We stress that our interns are to make the interests of the community a priority. They shouldn't have a preconceived notion or idea about a project."

Mather said FSD has partnerships with 17 universities, and the program is aimed at students "who want more rigorous training."

"You're not going to be teaching English," she said. "This is hard-core community development."

In Burdett's case, she already had landed a job as an executive assistant with the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry after graduation, "but I always felt pulled to do something like this (volunteer)," she said.

With her employer's blessing for a leave of absence, Burdett, 25, said she believes she will be a more valuable worker when she returns to her job, and has helped her career, as well.

"I feel inspired and empowered, and that wasn't something I expected," she said.

Mather said the organization doesn't just offer internships for young people, but also offers shorter volunteer experiences for professionals or groups.

"The professionals who participate find it really renews their enthusiasm or just gives them a break from their regular jobs," Mather said. "They make real personal connections with other people and make a real difference."

Mather said while many have criticized the work ethic of young people, she finds Generation Y "is not as jaded" as others and "see everything with a fresh set of eyes."

"This generation sees the community in different ways. They've got a globalized perspective on life. While that perspective available to them has sometimes been negative, we're very positive and give them that new perspective."

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